The Search for Clara Oswald
by NinjaNovelist
Summary: She shouldn't be upset. She was the one who told him not to travel alone, but she fears that he's moved on not only from her parents, but her as well. The Doctor enlists River's help in finding Soufflé Girl, and never before has she had so much damage to hide.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Just like the Doctor and the TARDIS, I don't technically, _legally_ own Doctor Who. I simply borrow the characters for a test drive on occasion, with every intent to return them, of course. Just haven't gotten around to doing it yet... **

"And then in the year 4259, Dr. RatNik L'Yurope at last uncovered the lost planet Cardonia, shrouded beneath the silvery remnants of a continuous chain reaction of supernovas that lasted for nearly three centuries," Professor Song lectured to her Freshmen Archeology students. "This find would eventually lead to the discovery of the entire galaxy of Locony, containing some of the most technologically advanced societies to date."

"But how do you know that the supernova debris was silver?" a particularly inquisitive Silurian named Franklin interrupted. "Most stars give off more orange-based gases."

The professor smiled as she leaned forward on her podium. "Quite a simple answer, really. I was there."

The class erupted into laughter, as their their teacher often made jokes referencing her age by claiming to have been at events from millenniums ago. But River only smirked as she tucked her vortex manipulator deeper into the folds of her robe.

"Alright, class dismissed," she announced. "Don't forget that your papers on the five most significant archeological finds of the thirty-third century are due next week."

It wasn't until the students began filing out that she first saw him. A young man almost trying too hard to appear inconspicuous among the crowds while ambling his way towards the front of the classroom, but it can be quite difficult to do so when wearing that ridiculous red bow tie.

River turned her back and began erasing the notes on the blackboard (an artifact from the late twentieth century that she had managed to dig up from the burial sites of New Orleans), pretending that she hadn't noticed him. By now the lecture hall was completely empty save the two of them. Just how she liked it.

She could barely make out his footsteps as they thud closer and closer, with her heart rate keeping perfect time. At the last possible moment she twirled around and ducked under his arms raised in a fruitless attempt to spook her. But she was quick to rise up again, just managing to breathe in a "Hello, Sweetie" before she met his lips.

The Doctor pouted childishly underneath the kiss, which only made it all the more enjoyable for River. But he gave in soon enough as his gangly arms wound their way around her waist and pulled her in even closer.

It was not until after quite some time that the Doctor broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against his wife's. "One day I'll manage to sneak up on you."

"Mmhmm." Her eyes fluttered open so he could see the mocking laughter in them. "That'll be the day."

With a good-natured chuckle, the Time Lord moved away and leaned casually against her desk, giving River a chance to get a good look at him.

"You've gotten older," she remarked.

"So have you," he countered.

River laughed. "Just a word of advice, Sweetie. That's not something you say to your wife."

"But it is something you say to your husband?" The Doctor asked, frowning.

She waved dismissively with her hand. "Women care more about that sort of thing. And I'm actually doing you a favor, Doctor. You asked me once to teach you how to handle girls, because quite frankly, my love, you're pretty rubbish at it."

"No, I'm not!" he cried out indignantly. Then he paused to think for a moment. "Well, there were a few times when Martha got a little moody. Then Rose used to get all worked up for absolutely no reason. And Donna would get angry at me all the time! Feisty little redhead that one was, makes me wish I was one... wait a moment. What did I do that was so bad that I asked for your advice, anyway?"

River's lip curled up in that far too familiar smirk that both irritated and enchanted him. "Spoilers."

"Of course," the Doctor sighed. "Okay, let me rephrase it a little. It's not that you look like you've aged physically. Can't have been too long since I last saw you. But there's just something in your eyes that makes you look older, and wiser, and..." Realization dawned on his face. "Sadder."

Taking a step closer, he asked quietly, "How long since Manhattan, River?"

The silence that ensued was one far too uncomfortable than what should have been between a husband and wife.

"Two months," she said at last, not daring to make eye contact.

"Oh." The seconds continued to slip away, then he added, "Been almost a year for me."

And as River's gaze finally flicked up to meet her husband's, seeing the evident pain in them that undoubtedly matched her own, she knew it wasn't going to get any easier.

"How about you tell me why you're here?" she asked in an attempt to move past the painful memories that resurfaced for both of them.

The Doctor raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "To see my wife."

"But at the university, sitting in on a class you despise?" River rebutted. "I know you better than that, Sweetie. What is it?"

Once again settling back on the desk, the Time Lord got that faraway look in his that betrayed how old he truly was. "I'm looking for a girl."

Once again, River gave him the smirk that seemed to spend more time on her face than off. "I bet she's pretty. They always are."

"Yes..." he replied distantly, and his wife waited patiently for him to discover blunder. And sure enough...

"Hold on, I didn't mean that! I mean, she _is _pretty, but not as much as _you_, of course. And what do you mean 'they always are'? That's not true... okay, maybe it is. But don't get mad! I've had far too many bad experiences of girls fighting over me... wait, I probably shouldn't have told you that. Forget I said anything! It's just, it's just..."

When he finally did the wise thing and accepted defeat, River rewarded him with a smile that showed nothing but amusement. "Go on, say it."

"Love you, dear," he mumbled.

"That a boy." She moved to sit beside her husband on the desk. "Tell me about her."

The Doctor leaned back as he stared off into the far distance of his past. "Her name was Clara Oswin Oswald, and she was absolutely brilliant."

Then he proceeded to tell River all about Soufflé Girl, the woman who lived in two entirely separate eras and died in both. There had been no second chances, no miraculous resurrections. Both times she was gone. Period. The end. It was the same exact girl, with no recollection of any past lives, who simply refused to leave the universe. But if there's one thing the Doctor loves, it's a good mystery just waiting to be solved.

"So what do you need me for?" she asked once the story was finished.

The Doctor's face rapidly changed to a comical shade of red. Moving away from River and nervously fiddling wit hem of his tweed, he replied, "Oh, no reason really. Just thought I'd introduce her to the wife, that's all. Why would you think that- that I had a specific purpose in mind?"

"I don't know, perhaps because of your sudden inability to meet my eyes?" she teased. "Come on, Doctor. Out with it."

Still intent on studying his coat, he said, "Three weeks I've been looking, and I haven't gotten any closer to finding her than when I started. She could be literally anywhere, or anywhen_, _I suppose. What I really need is, is..."

"Is what, Sweetie?" she asked innocently, but the Doctor knew better than to believe that anything about River could be innocent.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He shifted anxiously from one foot to the other, laughing despite the fact that nothing in the room was being funny.

Finally, after raking a hand through his hair, the words tumbled out all at once: "Ineedanarcheologist."

River paused a moment, drinking in this historic moment. "Come again?"

Glaring, the Doctor repeated, "I need an archeologist."

Cupping a hand to her ear for good measure, she said, "Sorry, a little louder?"

"I. NEED. AN. AR-CHE-O-LO-GIST!" he shouted.

He braved a glance at his wife, but her triumphant grin made him immediately avert his eyes again. "Happy now?"

"Quite."

She leaned over and made a grab for his hand, then proceeded to drag him out of the lecture hall.

"Now let's get started! I have an odd feeling that this is going to be a fun little project."

**So! This is going to be a three-parter, and since I'm on vacation, I'm hoping to get it all out by Monday. Hope you liked it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all for the lovely reviews/favorites/alerts! A few of you have stated that the characters are perfectly in line, which is why I feel the need to give a warning. I'm not sure if how River behaves in this chapter is OOC or not, but it's kind of difficult to judge since she's never really had a need to act like this before. Hopefully I didn't ****completely**** botch it. **

**Anyways, no more pathetic excuses. Bon Appétit!**

**EDIT: I fixed all the stupid little typos. Sorry about that, but my keyboard loves to forget how to type every now and then, thus causing me to skip a few words without even realizing it.**

Seating herself behind the desk in the TARDIS library (the one without a swimming pool, much to the disappointment of the Doctor), River clasped her hands together and said, "Now, then. What have you got for me?"

Her husband wordlessly passed over two manilla folders, identical except for the titles. One read "Clara: 1892", the other "Oswin: 2276".

River took her sweet time leafing through every fact the Doctor had to offer on this woman, glancing at one folder, than comparing it with the notes on the other, only to return to the original to check her data. Then recheck it. Then check it once again.

Somehow the Doctor managed to sit still through all this, his twiddling thumbs the only outlet for his inexhaustible amount of energy. He had promised his wife five minutes of peace to study the material. Just five minutes...

Four minutes and thirty-one seconds later, the Time Lord finally cracked. "Well?"

With a sigh, River set the folder she had been presently perusing aside. "Sweetie, where exactly have you searched for Clara so far?"

The Doctor laughed nervously as he idly scratched behind his ear. "Oh you know, a little bit here, a little bit there... anywhere, really. You know, Anywhere gets lovely weather this time of year, we should visit sometime."

Unfortunately for him, his wife had learned to pick out the significant pieces of information within his useless rambling long before. "Did you really expect that you were just going to bump into her during your galactic travels?"

"Well, that actually did happen. Twice," he argued.

"And don't count on a third," River retorted. "What we have to do now is narrow the playing field. Figure out in what span of time and space she could possibly be, then work from there."

"And I suppose you already have it all figured out?" the Doctor challenged.

River sat back and folded her arms. "Judging on the fact that she contained the same genetic makeup in both instances that you've met her, we can make a few deductions. She's clearly pure human, meaning that she must be from before they all inter-breeded with other species. She is also a fully developed human, so she can't be from longer than a few millenniums ago. Also, in both accounts she was British, and I think it's safe to assume that she will be this time around as well. So this reduces the range to sometime between, say, 5000 BC and 6000 AD, either in England itself or one of her colonies, earthly or extra-terrestrial."

For a moment River's speech was only met by stunned silence from her husband. But it was quick to pass as he regained his composure enough to cross his arms stubbornly and huff "Lucky guess."

"Archeology," she corrected.

He was about to reply, 'same thing', but he instead chose to bite his tongue. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her, and setting her off certainly wouldn't help his chances of finding Clara.

"I've already searched every corner of the world, in multiple time periods," he explained as he sank forward in the chair and put his face in his hands. "I've never considered Earth to be very impressive, just one little ball floating around among a million others, but it's remarkable how big it seems when you're looking for one person."

River was instantly at his side, a comforting arm encircling his shoulders as if she was physically holding him together. "We'll find her, Doctor. You have my word."

If the words had come from anyone else, he wouldn't have believed them. But this was River Song, renowned archeologist and gun-handling extraordinaire. When she set her mind to accomplish something it _would_ be done, no question about it.

"So what next, professor?" he asked, taking her hand.

"You'll like this bit." River looked up at him with a knowing smile. "Next comes the science part."

You would think that being so old would make one mature, serious even. The Doctor tried to keep this in mind as he repressed the bright smile of a child who was finally told by his mother that yes, he could bring the puppy home. But there was no stopping it from reaching his eyes. "Oh?"

"I trust you know a thing or two on on DNA identification, and now that we have a basic range on where Clara might be we can use it," River explained. "I need you to think, Sweetie. Can you recall of any time when she may have passed on some sort of genetic transfer?"

"Genetic transfer..." the Doctor mused.

It was very brief, so quick that if you blinked you would have missed it. But the fact remains that the Doctor did instinctively put a hand to his lips. The hand soon returned to its original spot, but it hadn't failed to escape River's notice, and felt her heart thud to her feet when she realized why he made such a movement.

Dropping his hand and turning away from him, she said quickly, "Well, I'll just leave you to ponder on that for a while. In the meantime there's still plenty of archeological evidence for me to uncover."

She walked briskly out of the room, leaving her husband in what she prayed was blissful obliviousness. Weaving through the endless labyrinth of corridors of the TARDIS, River walked with no real destination in mind other than to put as much distance between her and the Doctor as possible.

He's kissed her.

River knew that this would happen at some point. Just about all his companions- human or alien, male or female, straight or not- would find their way to her husband's lips at one time or another. She had promised herself that she wouldn't let it affect her, but it had happened so soon, not giving her enough time to prepare herself for the blow, that it cut through her like a vengeful knife all the same.

She wasn't sure who had made the first move, and she hoped to Gallifrey that it hadn't been her impossible man. If she can even call him hers now.

She allowed her figurative mother to guide her way, and as always the Old Girl took her exactly where she needed to be. Soon enough River found herself in the newly-renovated Console Room, running a hand along the controls that were both familiar and new to her. But for once it wasn't enough. It had taken several years and countless heartbreaks to do it, but she was finally at the point of falling apart.

Before, she had at least had her parents to help her through all her troubles. But now that they were gone, her husband was all she had left, and he had enough worries to deal with without having to take hers on as well.

"Never let him see the damage," she whispered. Then carefully positioning herself away from the hall she had come from, lest the Doctor come looking for her, she pulled up a chair and let herself cry.

She would not stoop over, would not make even a hint of a sound. She sat perfectly straight, hands clasped firmly together on her lap and eyes closed as the tears flowed in two lone tracks, running down her cheeks as gracefully yet forcefully as her namesake. There are many times when River Song enjoys making a scene, but crying is not one of them. She is one to keep her emotions under lock and key, but now and again the pressure builds up just too much behind the dam and they manage to break free.

A familiar pair of arms suddenly wrapped themselves around her. Her initial reaction was to lean into the embrace, but she gave a start when she realized who the hands must belong to and automatically turned her tear-stained face away. But the offender followed close behind, and she somehow couldn't bring herself to break away as her husband's cheek pressed against hers, sharing in her tears and pain.

"Told you I'd manage to sneak up on you," he murmured.

He kissed her cheek softly. "I'm sorry, River. I am so, so sorry."

Suddenly she was yanked back to reality, and all the problems packaged with it. He's always apologizing. He's made so many mistakes, has so many regrets, and the last thing River wanted was to add to that even more.

She stood and began moving away from him. "No, I'm sorry, Sweetie." She tried to sound casual and not let it come out as a sob. "Don't worry about me. It's nothing, really."

"No it's not," he said simply.

She made sure to wipe any escaping tears before facing him with crossed arms and a cruel glare, but her eyes were still moist. "I'm a woman, darling. We get emotional, and we overreact. It's not as bad as it seems."

"Tell me anyway," he said, daring to approach her.

River stared at him long and hard. She knew that face all too well: the impossibly stubborn look told he wasn't going to back down, no matter how unreasonable he was being. She could play that game just as well, of course, but her defenses had been weakened, and at the moment she just wasn't as strong as she always made herself out to be.

Even so, she couldn't let him completely in yet, so she leaned against the console and began with the smallest of her many troubles. "How is it that, after all you've been through together, you've managed to forget my parents so quickly?"

The Doctor's brows furrowed in confusion, so River chose to continue.

"Just look at this place," she said, giving a long, sweeping glance all around her. "It's like a whole different room. I don't know, it just feels as though you're trying to wipe away all the memories that they put in here."

With a sigh, she finally chose to face her husband. "I want you to move on Doctor, but Amy and Rory were good for you. You can't forget what we- they have taught you."

The Doctor stayed unusually quiet for a time, rubbing his hand on the console's slick exterior. "Even after they left us, I could feel their presence everywhere I turned. The grief was consuming me, I couldn't think of anything else. But the Old Girl knew that what I needed was some change."

Moving from the console, the Doctor looked around the ship with the same amount of wonder as when he first laid eyes on her. "It's happened before; every few years the TARDIS completely reinvents herself, but underneath it all she's still the same sexy, brilliant thing as always. A thousand years of running, yet sometimes it feels like I'm just doing the same things over and over: visit a planet, wreck havoc, save a few lives, take a few lives, and leave. Sometimes it's nice to have a little change. Not too much, just a bit. New face, new clothes, new habits..."

"New companions," River added quietly.

The Doctor's eyes met his wife's, understanding finally beginning to settle in them. She knew that he had at last figured out what her true fear was: that once he was through with her, he would just dump her back on her doorstep and run off, never to return. Though his eyes were sad, he managed a smile as he made his way back to River.

"Yes," he affirmed as he pulled her mother's reading glasses from at pocket. "But I always carry a part of them with me."

He placed them in her hand, and River fingered them lovingly as she said, "I shouldn't feel this way. I told you to find someone else, and I can't be with you all the time. Someone needs to look after you, but I can't help but feel hurt..."

"It's in your nature, River," the Doctor interrupted. "You may be part Time Lord, but you've also got those humany bits in you that make you so special. And in case you couldn't tell, I've got a bit of a soft spot for humans."

River chuckled softly, and her husband wrapped his arms around her. "No one can ever replace you, River Song. And I know you hate it when I'm a cheesy romantic, which is exactly why I'm going to say this anyway: you're the one who holds the key to my hearts."

The tender moment was shattered when the Doctor's head snapped up, processing the words he had just spoken. And if his wife still appeared uncertain despite his comforting words, he failed to notice as the familiar feeling that a brilliant idea was on the rise welled up inside of him.

"Key... that's it!"

Grabbing River by the wrist, he dragged her towards the scanner on the console.

"What is it, Doctor?" she asked.

Fumbling through his multiple pockets, he answered, "What you said before about a genetic transfer. I've got just what we need."

At last finding the desired object, the Doctor pulled out a silver key as gingerly as possible, so as not to taint it with his own fingerprints. "And now... the science part!"

He placed the key on a small platform on the console, hitting a number of buttons and levers that was mostly just for show, to appear like he actually knew what he was doing. As the scanner ran a series of calculations on the key, the childish man began rocking on the balls of his feet in anticipation.

"I just can't wait to see where she's turned up! Who knows what exciting, exotic place Clara could be at this very moment!"

But when the computer at last made it's conclusion, the Doctor's face was reminiscent to that of a kid opening his Christmas present to see that he had once again received a pair of socks from his grandmother.

"Twenty-first century London," he read aloud slowly, as though making sure that he was reading it right.

From beside him, River turned and raised an amused eyebrow at her husband. "Lover of change, eh?"

"Oh, hush."


	3. Chapter 3

**Only a day late for the update, but I still feel the need to apologize for my tardiness. But here's the last update for ya!**

**And FYI, I went back and fixed all the random little errors my stupid computer provided in the previous chapter. I'm sorry you had to go through the torture of reading an update I had been too lazy to proofread.**

The Doctor quickly put in the coordinates provided by the scanner, and away they went.

"Doctor, do you know where specifically the TARDIS is taking us?" River asked as she gripped the edge of the console to keep steady (her husband refused to let her lay a finger on the stabilizers).

"Not a clue!" the Doctor replied brightly on the opposite side. "But don't worry, she knows what she's doing. She'll take us just where we need to be."

The ship jerked to a halt, producing its usual unique sound as it materialized.

River squeezed her eyes shut in distaste. "Oh, I hate that sound."

Pulling one final lever down, the Doctor glanced across at her and grinned. "I know."

He spun around on the spot and headed to the doors in great leaps and bounds, with River close on his heels. Together they pushed them open to discover just where it was that they had arrived.

They found themselves in a graveyard, the weeds overgrown, withered trees stooped with age over the headstones, which were already halfway there to eroding back to being a part of nature once again. River stepped out into the sunlight, but not without some trepidation caused by the memory of the last time she had been in a cemetery.

"It's not the same one, River," the Doctor said as he moved to stand beside her. His voice was pained, but she could tell that it was for an entirely different reason. He had been here before, and it had not been under very good circumstances.

Suddenly, other sounds in the distance joined in with theirs.

"Through there? I hate this place! Don't you think it's creepy?" a young woman asked.

"Nah," another replied, that single syllable making the Doctor stand rigid. "I don't believe in ghosts."

"That's her!" he cried, racing through the tombstones to find the voice's source.

Doing what he does best, the Doctor ran and ran until he reached a clearing in the woods, where two girls stood conversing. One remained warily on the outskirts of the cemetary, but the other walked among the graves like she was taking a pleasant morning stroll.

Even if River hadn't seen the pictures from the files, the girl's obvious lack of fear distinguished her as just the sort of person the Doctor would choose to travel with him.

Pure elation of at last finding his Soufflé Girl caused the Doctor to abandon all reason and begin stumbling towards her. Fortunately, he didn't even get the chance to open his mouth and call her name when River tugged him back behind one of the trees and firmly clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Wha' wus tha' fer?" he asked, words muffled by her hand.

After releasing him, she said dryly, "Do you really expect to just waltz in, declare that Clara had been born and killed in two other time periods before this one, and assume she'll just follow you into the TARDIS, no questions asked?"

The Doctor blinked. "I'm assuming by your tone that the correct answer is 'no'."

She sighed, which now that she thinks about it she does quite a lot when around her husband. "Just wait it out until I-"

"We," he corrected.

"I can think of a plan," River finished, ignoring his outburst.

With a huff, the Doctor crossed his arms and sank to the ground. River quickly followed suit, and the two peered out from the bushes to witness Clara's conversation with her friend.

"I'm going the roundabout way to get to the park," the other girl was saying. "Ghosts or not, this place gives me a bad feeling."

Clara only shrugged. "Do what you like, Shoka. Me, I actually like coming here. Always felt some strange connection to this place. Just not sure why..."

Shoka rolled her eyes. "Well, once you've completed your weekly séance, I'll meet you in our usual spot."

It was at this point that River's spectating of the scene before her was interrupted by an incessant tapping on her shoulder. "Can we go talk to her now?"

"No, dear," River sighed.

"Why not?" the Doctor whined. "Her friend's gone, she's all alone. Now would be the perfect time to pounce!"

"And do you have any idea what you're going to say when you do _pounce_?" she asked, barely hiding a smile.

"I work best in the spur of the moment," he argued. "Improvisation, my dear River, is cool. I always come up with my plans on the spot."

"Yes," his wife agreed. "And how often have those little schemes of yours gone as they should?"

For a brief moment, the Doctor said nothing as he thought back to every instance in which his crazy ideas had gone awry. But then his lips formed a smug smirk that usually belonged on River's face as he leaned forward and tapped his wife's nose affectionately. "We're still alive, aren't we?"

Though it was a valid point, River remained firm. "But on something as important as this, we need to just take a minute and decide upon the best course of action."

The Doctor made no effort to conceal his groan. "You're no fun!"

River gave her husband a sidelong glance and winked. One never would have guessed that she had been crying under a quarter of an hour ago. "I think you know that's not true."

His face flushed, but for the pure sake of the argument he replied. "Is too."

She rolled her eyes at his immaturity, but indulged him nonetheless. "Is not."

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Oy!" came a distinctly different voice from behind. "You kids better get along, or I'll send you both straight to bed."

Like a pair of children caught with their hands in the cookie jar, the Doctor and River turned to face none other than Clara Oswin Oswald. She was leaning against a tree behind them, eyes narrowed in suspicion at them.

"Oh, er..." the Doctor scrambled to his feet, unable to keep his wide eyes off the girl he had been searching for weeks. "Hello."

Clara crossed her arms. "I would return the gesture, but my mother always warned me not to talk to strangers."

"Cheeky," River observed. But there was no mistaking the admiration in her voice.

If the Doctor had been able to go both deathly pale and beet red, he would've looked like something akin to a candy cane. "Look, Clara, it's not what you think."

"A strange man, hiding in the bushes to stalk a girl alone in a graveyard, and also happens to know her name?" the girl queried. "I have reason to believe it's _exactly _what I think."

"And clever, too," River remarked. "I can see why you chose her."

Wheeling around to face his wife, he hissed in a not-so-quiet whisper, "You're not helping!"

"And why are you surprised?" she retorted. "Just having a little _fun_, darling."

But Clara was the sort of person who naturally demanded attention. "Chosen for what?"

The Doctor slowly approached the young woman, staring her down with a calculating eye. "Do you know who I am?"

Clara didn't even blink. "Not one bit."

A flash of hurt flitted across his face for a moment, but he prodded further. "Nothing about me you recognize? Anything deep in your subconscious you can pull out on me?"

"I think I'd remember a chin like that," Clara replied. "Do you use it as a coat rack?"

To River's credit, she did a remarkably fine job in subduing her laughs, but the Doctor could still feel her teasing grin searing itself in the back of his skull.

"You should try that with your tweed, Sweetie," she said as she joined the group. "Can't look any worse than when you have it on your back."

The Time Lord could only sigh as both women dissolved into fits of laughter. It wasn't the first time he expected a catfight and gotten the two joining forces against him instead, and one of the few mysteries of the Universe that still remained unsolved for him was which option was worse.

But speaking of mysteries, the Doctor's mind switched gears to solve the one concerning Clara Oswald.

"Clearly the same girl," he muttered to himself as he began pacing. "But no recollections of her past, as expected. It's like she's starting from scratch; same face, same personality, same name even. But why would-"

He halted in both words and movements, dead still for one of the few instances in his very long life. Ignoring both the looks of confusion from his new friend and irritation from his wife, he took a long, deep whiff of the air around him.

"Something's wrong," he announced. "Something's very, very wrong."

River rolled her eyes. "He claims that he can literally smell danger."

"It's my eighth sense!" the Doctor exclaimed as he whipped out his sonic and began performing a series of scans.

"Most people only have five senses, dear," she explained patiently.

"I'm a Time Lord," he scoffed. "I'm _not _most people." Dissatisfied with the results of his tests, he added, "I need to get on higher ground for a better reading."

"And what about us?" Clara asked, slightly miffed. "I still have quite a few questions for you, Chin Boy."

"Er... River can help you with that," he said, pushing his wife forward. "You two go shop or golf or shoot things or whatever it is girls like to do together." He took off after the nearest hill. "Be back in a minute!"

Once he was gone, River simply shook her head at the man's sheer ridiculousness before returning her attention back on Clara. "So, you have questions?"

Clara fired off her spiel of inquiries as quickly as River could a round of bullets with her gun. "What's a Time Lord? What was that strange device he was holding? How does he know who I am, but I don't know him? What have I been chosen for? Who is that man, and can I trust him?"

River delivered her replies without missing a beat. "An alien from the planet Gallifrey that can live for centuries and understand the passage of history and workings of time better than any other species in the Universe. A sonic screwdriver, which can do literally almost anything you could possibly imagine. You have lived at least twice before, but you were killed and somehow reborn in an entirely different era. To travel with him in his spaceship throughout all of time and space. He is known as the Doctor, and though he does lie quite a lot, I trust him more than anything that ever did, does, or will exist."

For a moment, Clara simply stood there, processing everything she had just said. Then she threw her head back and gave a loud, long laugh.

"You're mad, both of you! Right from the start I thought he was a little batty, but I figured at least you were reasonable. Turns out that you're even worse."

She turned to leave, but River's voice gave her pause. "No taste in fashion, spies on young girls while claiming to have met them in past lives, and carries imaginary contraptions as weaponry. Why do you say that I'm the crazier one?"

Twisting back around to face her, Clara replied, "You said that you trust him, didn't you?"

Oh, she's a clever one, all right.

It was River's turn to laugh. "I didn't always. Believe me, I know exactly what you're going through. A man comes out of nowhere and treats you like you've known each other your whole lives? It's downright terrifying."

She lowered her voice instinctively to make sure her husband couldn't hear her. "But you know something? It's also exciting. And wonderful. And brilliant and exhilarating and maddening and amazing and everything else in between."

She brushed past the young girl, throwing the last line over her shoulder. "All you need is to put a little faith in him. And I can help plant the seed."

She watched Clara glance nervously in the direction that her friend had gone in. She knew that she was thinking of running, she could see the fear in her eyes. But the expression that was even more evident in her eyes was one of intrigue.

Steeling her nerves, Clara set off to follow the mysterious woman.

River lead the girl through the haunted graveyard, stopping before the very same headstone Clara herself had been at mere minutes ago. When the younger read the name on the stone for the first time, her mouth went slack and she made no attempt to close it again.

"How..."

"An excellent question," River agreed. "How is it that a woman born nearly a hundred and fifty years ago could have the exact same name as you? And with such a unique middle name as that, you know it can't be simply a coincidence."

She inclined her head towards the girl, who was still staring wide-eyed at the grave. "Tell me, Clara, have there ever been times in school when you could recall a certain point in history in exact detail, despite never having learned of the event before in your life? Ever known just how popular some new piece of technology will become before it's even been released?"

Clara said nothing, which only served to confirm River's theory.

"Those are from the experiences you've encountered in your past lives," River explained. "I bet you've always felt out of place here, like you don't quite belong, and you're absolutely right. You _don't _belong here, and you never will."

"How are you so sure?" Clara asked.

River thought back to times of an infant born of a twenty-first century woman thousands of lightyears away and who-knows-how-many years in the future. Of a terrified young girl in a spacesuit, trained to kill in an era decades before what should have been her time. Of a sassy little kid raised by her parents when they were kids themselves.

"Because I don't belong here, either."

Their eyes met, and each woman felt a connection towards the other that had not been present a moment ago.

"Then where do we belong?" Clara whispered.

River smiled and and gestured towards the space alien licking the dirt off his fingers a several meters away. "With him. Traveling through all the times and places we could ever dream of and more. Trust him, Clara. He's the Doctor."

The Girl Who Died Twice glanced down at her own gravestone, then to River, then to the Doctor, then back again at the stone, unable to say a word.

"Aren't you going to ask it?" River said.

Clara focused her puzzled gaze back on the other woman. "Ask what?"

"'Doctor who?'" When she was met once again by silence, River nodded. "Ah, I see. You've already asked it before, so you know that it can never be answered."

Clara took a step back, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information being hurled at her. "Can he help me? Does the Doctor know what's happening to me?"

River's hand went to her pocket, fingers clasping around one small object. She could just say no, keep the Doctor all to herself. But that wouldn't be fair to either him or Clara, so with a deep, steadying breath she pulled the item out into the open.

"He never knows what," she explained, pressing the silver key into Clara's hand, already outstretched like she had been expecting it all along. "He only knows who."

She could tell that Clara would be good for the Doctor. She had an intellect that could keep up with his, but with the curiosity and wonder of a child. She was special, had a perspective like none other, and if River or her parents couldn't travel with her madman, there was no one else she wished more for him than Soufflé Girl.

Clara stared down at the key that she had held once upon a time, and River could practically see the wheels spinning faster and faster in her head as she tried to figure out the elaborate puzzle of her past. But the two were soon interrupted by a voice calling out in the distance.

"River! Clara!" the Doctor cried, displaying an impressive array of flailing limbs as he raced down the hill. Once he even tripped on his own feet, tumbled into a full somersault, only to pop straight back up and keep on running like it never happened. "I've got it! I know what the trouble is!"

"Do tell us, Sweetie," River told him. "We've been waiting with bated breath."

He made a face at his wife, but quickly switched back to business mode. "It's the rabbits."

River stared back at him. "Rabbits."

"Rabbits," the Doctor confirmed. "Some alien life form is possessing them, using the poor things with intent to kill."

"Rabbits," River repeated, like a broken record.

"Yes, dear," the Doctor replied, exasperated. "I think we've established this fact."

"But... why rabbits?" she asked. "Wouldn't they have chosen something a bit more menacing, like hounds or bears perhaps?"

"River." Her husband turned to face her fully, and she saw true terror in his eyes. "Can you think of any creature that breeds faster than rabbits?"

Suddenly the fearsome, gun-slinging psychopath held the exact same expression as the Doctor. "Oh."

"Yes. Oh. In a matter of weeks they will have at their disposal a full-fledged army of rabid rabbits." The Oncoming Storm then fell abruptly into a fit of giggles. "Rabid rabbits. How alliterative!"

But all it took was one death glare from his wife to direct him back to the arising problem. "Right! So let's get a move on, sorry we couldn't chat longer, Clara, but you know... looming threat of alien invasion that could very well destroy the world as we know it. Again."

The Doctor said this casually as he walked on ahead, like this sort of thing happened to him every day. Which, come to think of it,wasn't too far from the truth. "I've already got a plan that I, ahem, _improvised _on the way here, and it involves my sonic, a few tracking devices, and a big ball of yarn. To the TARDIS, ladies! Oh, and before you ask, Clara- seeing as we're in a bit of a rush- yes, it is bigger on the inside."

Neither woman had moved the whole time, Clara still intent on the key, and River watching Clara to see if she would manage to put the pieces together. Finally, the young girl glanced up and, with a smug smile that suited her well, called out after him:

"Don't you mean smaller on the outside?"

The Doctor stopped dead, rabbits forgotten for the time being as he whirled back around. His pace quickened as he approached Clara, his eyes smiling. "You remember?"

"Enough to know that I should hold onto this for safekeeping," she replied, tucking the key into her purse. "Think if I travel around with you for a few months that we can be back before Shoka grows impatient?"

The madman was now on the verge of dancing about in glee. "I believe that can be arranged." Then whipping back around, he cried, "Now then! We've got a planet to save from death by rabbits."

But once again he only managed a handful of paces when he realized the third member of their party was not among them. He retraced his steps until he reached his wife, who was in the process of strapping on her vortex manipulator.

"Can't you stay?" he pleaded.

As much as she wanted to grant his request, she shook her head. "I have classes in the morning. Besides, Clara deserves a proper first adventure with you, without your daft old wife getting in the way."

The Doctor looked around innocently. "I don't see anyone daft or old here. Unless you mean me, of course."

River laughed as she leaned up to give him a brief peck on the lips. Then her face went serious. "I know she'll look after you for me, but you have to return the favor. Take care of her, Doctor."

He nodded with utmost sincerity, but for a moment River worried of what would become of Clara Oswald. Even being in the presence of the Doctor was a risk in and of itself, but after going through so many people that he had failed to protect, she knew that he would put forth the best he had to offer in order to make sure that this would not become yet another lie.

"I'll be seeing you, Professor Song," he promised.

"Spoilers," River said with the word's accompanying smirk. Then after checking to see if the coast was clear, she stood on tip-toe and whispered in his ear, "But I'll be seeing you, too."

He gave her a proper kiss this time, ignoring the cat calls that erupted from their audience. When they parted, he gave her one last grin before turning to his newest companion as she stood waiting on the outskirts.

"Now then, Miss Oswald," he addressed, offering her his hand. "Are you prepared for the most dangerous day of your life?"

Putting aside any remaining doubts or fears, Clara accepted it. "Run, you clever boy."

Most would not smile fondly as they watch their husband run off with another woman, but River had never been one to follow life according to the rules. Her pockets were now empty, two burdens lifted from her, for she had tucked her mother's glasses back into the Doctor's coat pocket as a reminder to keep in his hearts those of his past.

"And remember," she whispered. Then she pressed the button on her manipulator and crackled out of sight.


End file.
